Cafe traverse rod glide ring



Jaw-1,1910 K.M..JOHN$'-" 3,521,318

CAFE TRAVERSE ROD GLIDE RING Original Filed April 26, 1966 omfia INVENTOR. KENNETH M. JOHNSON ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,521,318 CAFE TRAVERSE ROD GLIDE RING Kenneth M. Johnson, Kensington, C0nn., assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Original application Apr. 26, 1966, Ser. No. 545,380.

Divided and this application Mar. 8, 1968, Ser.

Int. Cl. A47h 15/00; E0511 13/02 U.S. Cl. 1693 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to cafe traverse rod assemblies for supporting a flexible, downwardly depending panel and more particularly concerns pull cord operated cafe traverse rod assemblies formed with channels to receive glides for supporting such panels or draperies.

This application is a division of applicants copending application Ser. No. 545,380, filed Apr. 26, 1966, and entitled Cafe Traverse Rod, now Pat. 3,419,065.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved ring glide for cafe rods.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which is exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a cafe traverse rod assembly embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the ring glide structure taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the structure of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the slide of the master carrier of the assembly;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the structure of FIG. 6.

Referring now to the drawings in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 a preferred embodiment of the invention wherein a cafe traverse rod 10 comprises an inner track 12 and an outer track 14 of similar configuration assembled in telescoping relation so that the traverse rod 10 may be adjusted for varying lengths.

The inner track 12 and the outer track 14 of the cafe traverse rod 10 are each made from a single rectangular strip of sheet metal roll formed into a generally cylindrical cross-sectional configuration having a cylindrical wall 16 extending from a flat horizontal rear wall 18 to a vertical rear wall 20 with a longitudinally extending groove 22 disposed at the top of the rod. The vertical rear wall 20 is formed of a pair of spaced apart coplanar wall sections bordering a longitudinal slot or channel 24.

The master carriers 26, 28 and a suitable number of curved ring glide carriers 30 are shown as' being mounted in the longitudinal slot 24 in the rear wall of the traverse rod 10 for sliding movement along its length. A pull cord 32, threaded through the master carriers 26, 28 and the usual pulleys 34 disposed at the ends of the traverse rod 10, is shown as being provided for shifting the master carriers 26, 28 to open and close the draperies supported by the carriers and the glides.

To discuss the construction in greater detail, it will be observed that the curved ring glide carriers 30 which may be formed of any suitable material, as, for example, molded from a polystyrene, include a generally circular 3,521,318 Patented July 21, 1970 portion 36 which extends rearwardly beyond the top of the cafe traverse rod 10 and terminates at a level below that of the top of the rod 10. The lower end of the cylindrical portion 36 is connected to the slide by an integrally formed reversely 'bent straight portion 38 and is provided with a further integrally formed hanger portion 42 containing an aperture 44 for receiving a drapery hook.

An important feature of this invention is the manner in which the ring glide carrier is secured to its slide 40.

As best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawing, the reversely bent straight portion 38 of the ring glide carrier 30 terminates in a shoulder 46 and is provided with a forwardly extending projection generally indicated by the numeral 48. The forwardly extending projection 48 is, as best shown in FIG. 4, provided with horizontal wing members 52 and tapered vertical Wing members 54. On the ends of the top and bottom surfaces of the horizontal wing members 52 are a pair of protuberances or raised rib portions 56.

The slide for the glide carrier 30, which is preferably formed of a moldable thermoplastic material characterized by its toughness, limited resiliency, Wear resistance, and low friction qualities such as nylon or other thermoplastic or nylon-type material, is provided with a cross shaped slot 58 dimensioned to receive the vertical and horizontal wing members 52, 54 of projection 48. The slide 40 is further provided with transverse grooves 'Which, as best shown in FIG. 2, receive the edges of the rear vertical wall 20 of the traverse rod 10 to mount the ring glide carriers 30 for movement longitudinally of the slot 24.

The vertical wing members 54 are preferably tapered to have both a diminishing height and width toward the free or forward end of projection 48 and are dimensioned at the larger or rearward end thereof to tightly engage the walls of the vertical slot of the slide 40. The ring portion 36 of the slide carrier 30 and the slide 40 are assembled by inserting the projection 48 into the cross-shaped slot 58 of the slide 40 until the protuberances 56 extend \beyond the end wall 62 of the slide 40 to secure the same in position. Because of the limited resiliency of the slide 40, the upper and lower wing portions 54 engage the vertical sides of the cross-shaped slot 58 to be wedged therein, and the opening through which the end of the projection 48 is inserted will expand during assembly to permit the passage of the rib portions 56 and, when assembled, resiliently clamp the same to immovably secure the slide 40 and the curved portion 36 together.

Another feature of the inevntion resides in the configuration of the slide 40 and involves the ratio of the length of the grooves 60 relative to the vertical distance between the adjacent bottom walls of the upper and lower grooves 60. I have found that the ratio of the length of the grooves 60 to the vertical distance between the bottoms of the grooves 60 should be at least about 2 /2 to 1 and a ratio of about 3 to 1 is preferred. Specifically, I have found that where the distance between the bottoms of the grooves 60 is A inch, the longitudinal length of the groove 60 should be about inch since, with this construction, the glide will have the vetrical stability to hold the ring member glide carrier 30 perpendicular to the rod while at the same time permitting adjacent ring glide carriers 30 to be positioned close together for bunching the drape when it is open. Moreover, this ratio of height to length of the grooves 60 will result in the smooth movement of the glide carriers 30 Without jerking since it prevents any effective wedging of the slides 40' in the longitudinal slot or channel 24, and will result in the weight of the draperies on the several ring glide carriers 30 to automatically space the same more uniformly when the draperies are drawn.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the straight portion 38 of the ring glide carrier 30 is reversely bent with respect to its juncture with the curved portion 36 thereof in a nonconcentirc and nontouching relationship relative to traverse rod 10. By this construction, coupled with the projection of the free end 37 of the ring glide 30 beyond and below the top of the traverse rod 10, the assembly gives the visual impression that the ring carriers 30 engage the rod despite the fact that they are spaced therefrom in a nontouching relationship. In this manner, the design of the ring glide carriers achieves the desired appearance of a conventional cafe traverse rod without any contacts between the rings and the rod thereby avoiding the marring of the surface of the rod due to rubbing during use and affording a smoother sliding action of the rings along the rod because the sole engagement of the rod occurs between the slot 24 and the slides 40 which are formed of a smooth bearing material.

The master carriers 26, 28 are identical in design except that they are arranged for left-hand and right-hand operation and include overlapping carrier bars 70, 72 which are secured to the drapery carrier portions 42 by eyelets 74 to carry out the same appearance in the master carrier as is presented by the ring glide carriers 30; This consistency of appearance is enhanced by the use of eyelets 74- which may receive drapery hooks in the same relative location as on the individual ring glide carriers 30.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the details of the design of the slide 76 of the master carrier are disclosed. The ring glides 30 are secured to the slide 76 of the master carrier in the same manner illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The slide 76 is further provided with upper and lower longitudinal slots 78 adapted to be received in the longitudinal channel 24 of the traverse rod 10. The slide 76 is further provided with a transverse groove 80 which is interrupted intermediate its ends by a rearwardly extending projection 82. As best shown in FIG. 6, the projection 82 has a downwardly depending hook portion 84 and is secured to the upper edge of the slot 80 by a narrow bridging portion 86 for purposes hereinafter more fully described. The throat 88 provided between the hook portion 84 and the lower portion of the slide 76 is provided with a plurality of ridges 90.

The pulleys 34 of the cafe tranverse rod 10 are mounted to rotate on shafts 92 in a pulley housing 94. The pulley housing 94 is preferably formed of an extrusion having a pair of depending spaced parallel side portions 96 through which the pulley shafts are mounted and a serpentine laterally extending top portion 98 for mounting the pulley housing in the cafe traverse rod 10. The end of the top portion 98 is preferably curved as indicated at 99 to mate the curved surface of the traverse rod 10. The housing 94 is secured to the traverse rod 10 by a single screw 100 which is preferably positioned directly above the vertical rear wall 20 of the rod 10 where it is concealed from view. The laterally extending portion 99 of the extruded housing '94 extends a substantial distance along the rod 10 as shown in FIG. 1, and due to the curvature of the mating portion of the traverse rod 10, a single screw 100 located at approximately the longitudinal center thereof immovably secures the pulley housing to the traverse rod 10 despite longitudinal forces imposed on the housing resulting from the drawing and opening of the drapes by pull cord 32.

A simple easily installed and used ring glide carrier two-way stop member 104 is assembled by the same screw 100 that is used to mount the pulley housing 94. The stop member 104 is formed of a resilient material and straddles the channel 24 of the traverse rod .10 to prevent the normal passing of the slides 40 in either direction. At the same time, the resiliency of the spring stop member 104 permits the necessary manual manipulation thereof to permit the passage of the slides 40 for adding or removing ring ring glides 30 from the tarverse rod 10.

Since the longitudinal slot or channel 24 extends to the ends of the inner and outer rods 12 and 14, respectively, the master carriers 26, 28 and the ring glide carriers 30 may be assembled on the traverse rod by simply inserting them in the ends of the slots past the stops 104. In this connection, because the stop 104 is a two-way stop, one or more ring glide carriers 30 may be mounted between the end cap 106 and the stop 104 to hold one or more folds of the end of the drape in this position during use.

The pull cord 32 may then be threaded through the several pulleys 34 and the slots in the master carrier slides 76 in the usual manner and the position of the master carriers adjusted by the linear adjustment of the pull cord 32 relative to the tapered throat 88 of one of the slides 76 of one of the master carriers. With the pull cord in properly adjusted position, the ridges will pro vide high stress areas to tightly pinch the pull cord 32 and prevent relative slippage therebetween.

The assembly of the traverse rod 10, as illustarted in FIG. 1 and described above is conveniently completed in the factory to prepare the traverse rod 10 for mounting and use by the consumer for normal two-way operation, that is to say, the manipulation of the pull cord 32 will move both master carriers 26, 28 toward and away from each other by equal amounts.

It is desired, however, to provide for the field conversion of the traverse rod 10 for one-way operation as, for example, where a pair of windows span the comer of a room. The design of the cafe traverse rod assembly of this invention and its components facilitates such a field conversion. Such a conversion may readily be accomplished by lengthening the track until the inner track 12 and the outer track 14 are separated, removing the right master carrier 28 through the separated end of the slot or channel 24. In removing the master carrier 28, the pull cord 32 may be unthreaded from the master carrier 28 by breaking off the projection 82 of the slide 76 which may readily be accomplished because of the limited bridging connection 86 between the top edge thereof and the body of slide 76. The pull cord thus remains threaded in the rod for one-way operation which utilizes only a single master carrier 26. Ring glide carriers 30 mounted in the inner track 12 may be removed from the right-hand end of the traverse rod as viewed in FIG. 1 by removing the right end cap 106 or in the same manner as the master carrier 28 and may be reinstated in the left-hand end of the rod by removing the left-hand cap 106 and raising the left-hand stop member 104.

To convert the rod for opposite hand operation, the left-hand master carrier 26 is removed in the same general manner as referred to above for the right-hand master carrier 28 by the separation of inner track 12 and outer track 14. In this conversion, however, the projection 82 of master carrier 28 is again broken off to unthread the pull cord 32 and the ends of pull cord 32 unknotted and removed from master carrier 26 and similarly reknotted for attachment to master carrier 28. The loop of the pull cord 32 for manipulation of the master carrier 28 is preferably located at the end of the rod to which the master carrier 28 opens. Accordingly, the loop may be re-formed by the simple expedient of pulling a loop by a hook engaging the pull cord 32 between the pulleys 34 at the right end of the rod (as viewed in FIG. 1) until the loop illustrated in FIG. 1 disappears.

Since the right-hand end of the rod as viewed in FIG. 1 will abut the corner Wall of the room or the end of a similar rod in a dual corner window installation situation, it is desirable to provide an arrangement whereby the master carrier 26 may carry the drape to the full end of the rod. By providing an additional hole 110 adjacent the ends of the traverse rod 10 where it is normally concealed by the cap members 106, the right-hand pulley housing 94 and stop member 104 may be moved to the end of the rod by removing the screw 100 from its original location and remounting the housing and stop member 104 by passing the screw through the hole 110. The rod is thus prepared for one-way operation.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure above described will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A ring glide for a cafe traverse rod having a generally cylindrical front wall and a slotted longitudinal back wall comprising an interrupted ring and a molded plastic slide secured to one end thereof, said interrupted ring providing an integral hanger for attaching a drapery hook and having a generally horizontal forwardly directed noncircular projection on one end thereof, said slide being provided with a horizontal aperture therethrough having a shape which is complementary to the cross section of said projection, said projection terminating in an enlarged end to provide a snap-on joint to immovably secure said interrupted ring to said slide when said projection is inserted through said aperture.

2. A ring glide as recited in claim 1 wherein said noncircular projection is provided with generally vertical and horizontal wing members and said slide is provided with a cross-shaped aperture,

6 3. A ring glide as recited in claim 2 wherein one of said vertical and horizontal wing members are convergingly tapered toward the free end of said projection to engage the wall of said aperture so as to be wedged therein.

4. A ring glide as recited in claim 3 wherein the slide is molded from a nylon-type material.

5. A ring glide as recited in claim 3 wherein the slide is provided with a pair of aligned transverse grooves to be received in the longitudinal slot of the associated traverse rod and the ratio of the length of thegrooves to the distance between the bottoms thereof is about References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 

